In the late 1800s Bishop Henry Whipple helped develop a national program to train Indian women in the art of lace making. The program's goal was to create a cottage industry for products to sell on the East Coast.

Ribbonwork is an indigenous North American art. While the materials involved are almost entirely of European origin and production, the work itself is firmly rooted in pre-contact techniques and artistic expressions.

Finding more common ground with educators and religious leaders, Whipple lectured at national meetings, especially the Lake Mohonk Conference of Friends of the American Indian in upstate New York, where he met with leaders in the "Indian movement".